Wes Anderson pays tribute to Owen Wilson after first Oscar win

Wes Anderson paid tribute to his friend and collaborator Owen Wilson after he won his first Oscar.

The director, best known for films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom, finally won his first Academy Award in the live action short category for The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar.

Based on the story by Roald Dahl, the 39-minute film stars Benedict Cumberbatch and is available to stream on Netflix, after the streaming giant bought the rights to Dahl’s entire catalogue of children’s books in a landmark deal.

It also features Ralph Fiennes, Sir Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel and Richard Ayoade.

Anderson was not at the Oscars in person to collect the prize but a statement from him shared by Netflix said: “If I could have been there, I (along with Steven Rales) would have said ‘Thank you’ to: the family of Roald Dahl, the team at Netflix, Benedict and Ralph and Ben Kingsley and Dev and Richard and Bob and Adam and Jeremy and John and Jim and Rich and Jim and Polly and more.

“And also I would have said: if I had not met Owen Wilson in a corridor at the University of Texas between classes when I was 18 years old, I would certainly not be receiving this award tonight – but unfortunately Steven and I are in Germany and we start shooting our new movie early tomorrow morning, so I did not actually receive the award or get a chance to say any of that.”

Wilson co-wrote and starred in a number of Anderson’s films, including his break-out debut Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.

Anderson, who is known for his quirky and distinctive visual style and use of pastel colour palettes, frequently works with the same actors.

Other signature collaborators include Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton and Adrien Brody.